By Matt Hickman/Sierra Vista Herald
CHANDLER – After winning 17 straight games and climbing to a No. 10 national ranking, the Cochise College men’s basketball team has now dropped two straight.
Saturday afternoon at Chandler-Gilbert Community College, the Apaches held an 80-76 lead with three minutes to go, but did not score again until the final seconds of an 87-83 loss.
“Chandler-Gilbert played very hard,” Cochise head coach Jerry Carrillo said. “We’re getting other teams’ best efforts right now.”
Cochise made just 9 of 27 free throws for the game and was 0 for 4 in the final two minutes.
Nathan Sobey led the Apaches with 25 points. Mark Simmons scored 16 and Matt Korcheck had 10.
Cochise returns home on Wednesday night, trying to turn things around against South Mountain Community College. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
Cochise women
CHANDLER – The Cochise College women’s basketball team blew out Chandler-Gilbert on Saturday, 55-35.
The Apaches, now on a three-game winning streak, led 39-14 at the half and had plenty of cushion to ride out a sloppy second half.
“We played great in the first half; we were aggressive and we took care of the ball,” head coach Laura Hughes said.
Johnishia Welles led Cochise with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Ashley Mitchell scored 13 and Paulina Sias and Valerie Galvez had 10 points apiece.
Cochise faces South Mountain at home at the Douglas Campus at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.